Kevin McCarthy targeted by pro-immigration groups

Labor unions say they are going to flood House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy’s Bakersfield, Calif., district on Wednesday, in an attempt to persuade him to support a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s undocumented immigrants.

Cars will caravan along the roughly 115 miles from Los Angeles to Bakersfield early Wednesday morning, ahead of a midday demonstration outside McCarthy’s office, pressing the No. 3 GOP leader for a comprehensive immigration overhaul that includes a pathway. Organizers say hundreds of cars are making the journey.

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Recess watch: Immigration reform

Groups that assembled the event — which include a number of labor groups, like the AFL-CIO — have branded McCarthy as having House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) ear and the ability to persuade him to take up comprehensive immigration legislation.

“The road to victory, the path to citizenship, goes through Bakersfield,” the flier reads.

House Republicans have said they will vote on several small-bore immigration bills in October, after Congress completes its debate on government funding. Republican leaders have said they’re not open to passing a comprehensive bill but would prefer piecemeal legislation on issues like tougher border security.